


Can you Love Me Again

by emperorpenguin (dortmundbvbbabe)



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Barista Tyson, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Modern Royalty, Prince JT, prince and me AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-19
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 17:12:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18525967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dortmundbvbbabe/pseuds/emperorpenguin
Summary: Prince Joseph Taylor of the United States has one semester to make the most of the exchange program in Vancouver. He isn't expecting to fall in love there, let alone with Tyson, the one person who has no idea who he is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to @mitchmatthews for the idea.

Alex had been skeptical about the semester abroad in Canada. There were security and privacy concerns of course, and Alex would be primarily responsible for JT’s wellbeing which was more of a role than he currently had. JT had tried to reassure him that it was  _ Canada _ he was going to, not some unfriendly country. 

The Canadian Prime Minister had encouraged him to study in Canada, even suggesting that he’d write a letter of recommendation for McGill or University of Toronto if JT wished to attend, however, it had been well-established earlier that JT would attend school in the United States. He was American royalty after all. But the semester abroad would give him a chance to get away from things and experience a new culture even if it was just in Canada. 

That’s how JT found himself at UBC, taking some political science classes for the next five months. He shared an apartment with Alex off-campus. If it was one of the older members of the security force, JT probably would have protested, but despite Alex’s protests that he was first and foremost JT’s bodyguard- they were friends. They’d moved in a few weeks before school officially started. JT had a week of orientation prior to classes starting and Alex had made sure to thoroughly vet their neighbors and scope out all of the buildings that JT would have classes in.

They stopped in for coffee and JT saw Alex scope out the exits. “Will you calm down?” JT asked.

“Sorry,” Alex said. 

“What do you want?” JT asked as they approached the counter. 

“Just a coffee,” Alex said. 

The woman in front of JT finished paying and he stepped up to the register. The guy behind the counter looked around their age, maybe a little younger. JT’s mouth dried up as he took in the guy. He was JT’s type to a T. “What can I get for you?” the man asked.

“Uh, I’ll take a small americano and he’ll have a small black coffee.”

“Can I have your name?”  
JT blinked. He thought that everyone knew him. He’d noticed a few people do double takes on the street as he explored Vancouver, causing Alex to get nervous. He knew he should have said Joseph, but Joseph was the prince, Joseph was the guy that people got flustered around. “JT,” He said as he paid cash.

“I got it,” JT said as he waved off Alex’s fumbling with his wallet. 

The guy grabbed Alex’s coffee and they waited off to the side for JT’s americano.

“So it’s JT now, huh?” Alex asked. 

JT shrugged, “That’s what all my friends call me.”

“So he’s your friend, now,” Alex said trying to hide back a smile, “More like you want him to be.”

“Okay, yes, he’s my type,” JT admitted. 

Alex just laughed at his expense, “You’re attracted to the one person who has no clue who you are.”

“I don’t know why I keep you around,” JT said and was relieved when his name was called for his drink.

 

JT didn’t head back to the cafe again after that first time. If he did, he knew that Alex would tease him about going back for that barista, which probably would have been true. Besides, he wasn’t looking to date anyone, let alone someone who couldn’t understand his lifestyle. He knew who he was expected to date, even though people had become much more accepting of gay men, JT knew that there were still politics involved when it came to what was accepted. 

He’d insisted on going to a Vancouver club that one of his friends had suggested right before classes started. Despite what some students did during exchange programs, JT knew that he’d have to buckle down when classes actually started. He didn’t have the luxury of slacking off and risking a professor selling a story to the press about how he was having too much fun during his time off.

JT had had to drag Alex to the dance floor as bodies pressed up against them. “Why are you doing this to me?” Alex asked.

“You need to have some fun, too,” JT decided. 

“I’m having so much fun,” Alex said dryly. 

“At least let  _ me _ have some fun,” JT said. 

Alex rolled his eyes, but JT knew he’d won. He knew that most people thought of royalty as spoiled and maybe at one point Alex had thought of them that way as well, but occasionally JT caught him staring with pity. JT couldn’t just do whatever he wanted. He never had been able to. 

The first class on JT’s schedule was some gen ed fulfillment that would transfer over to his home university at Denver University. The topic sounded interesting enough: inequality in the Americas, but it wasn’t particularly JT’s focus. He’d sent out introductory emails to all of his professors in the hopes that they’d treat him normally. Usually they did, but there were a couple of professors at Denver who had had strong feelings about the monarchy, for better or worse. 

Alex had brought a laptop and sat at the back of the lecture hall, close enough to watch over JT, but far enough away that he could do his own thing. JT wasn’t paying much attention as classmates wandered into the room and greeted each other after the break. 

The professor started class by going over the syllabus, and about ten minutes into the lecture, the door opened and a straggler entered.

“Shit, sorry,” the guy apologized. JT’s breath caught in his throat. It was the coffee shop guy. 

“Thank you for joining us, Tyson,” the professor said as the guy skulked to his seat sheepishly. 

Tyson. That was the guy’s name. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Alex said after class wrapped up and they reconvened. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” JT said, hoping that Alex would let it go. 

“Sure you don’t,” Alex said as he watched Tyson walk past them. All JT could think about, though, was the next class on Thursday. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the initial feedback... updates won't happen so quickly but I wanted to celebrate the Avs moving forward.

“I’m going to do some work,” JT told Alex as he slung his messenger back over his shoulder.

“What?” Alex asked.

“It’ll be fine,” JT said.

“Let me come with you,” Alex said.

“Alex, please, I just need some time by myself,” JT said. They’d spent every minute with each other outside the apartment and although Alex was one of JT’s best friends, he needed a break. Alex probably even needed a break. JT could see the hesitation on Alex’s face. 

“Fine, a half mile radius, let me know where you end up, and you check in every thirty minutes,” Alex said. 

“Deal,” JT said. 

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Alex said. 

“Love you too,” JT replied. 

 

JT ended up going to the cafe that he and Alex had been to before. He texted Alex the name of the cafe and knew that Alex would already be putting it in his phone the directions in case JT would need him. JT pretended not to be disappointed when he arrived at the cafe and Tyson wasn’t working. It was silly to think that Tyson would be working every time that he went to the coffeeshop, not that he intended on making it a habit, but it had a nice atmosphere and JT would be left alone.

He set an alarm for thirty minutes and settled in at a corner table planning to do some readings and take some notes. He’d already texted Alex twice to reassure him that everything was okay when the cafe door opened with a jingle.

“Hey,” JT said to Tyson who just looked at him with polite confusion.

“Hi?”

“Sorry, I think we’re in the same inequality class,” JT said.

“Oh, yeah, you’re at UBC, too?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah, I’m just here for the semester,” JT said.

“Are you American?” Tyson asked.

“The accent kind of gives it away,” JT said. 

“Sorry, I’m Tyson by the way,” Tyson said, remembering his manners. 

“I’m JT,” he said, “Did you want to sit?” 

“I’m actually working in a little bit, but I can sit for a while,” Tyson said as he sat down across from JT. “What do you think of Canada so far?” 

“It’s great,” JT said, “It was nice to get a change of scenery for a while.”

“Why did you come to Vancouver?” Tyson asked.

“My parents don’t like me going too far away, but they agreed to let me study abroad so Vancouver was the compromise,” JT said. “Are you from around here?”

“Yeah, about an hour away,” Tyson said, “I wanted to stay close to home and it was a good fit.”  
“What are you studying?” JT asked. 

“Social work,” Tyson said, “What about you?”

“Politics,” JT said. 

“Cool,” Tyson said.

“I like it,” JT shrugged.

“Did you always know that was what you wanted to do?” Tyson asked.

“It was kind of decided for me,” JT said, “I probably wouldn’t have chosen it, but it’s kind of a family thing.”

“Are you a Kennedy or something?” Tyson asked.

“Something like that,” JT replied.

“Seriously?” Tyson’s eyes widened. 

“Yeah, but it’s not a big deal,” JT said. 

Tyson was going to say something else, but was interrupted by JT’s alarm going off to let him know to text Alex. He just quickly turned it off apologetically. “Sorry about that,” JT said, “What were you going to say?” 

“Nothing,” Tyson said.

“What do you do for fun around here?” JT asked.

“Me, not much, I’m usually going between school and working here so I don’t have a ton of free time. But a lot of people go to the school’s hockey games and there are always some frat parties on the weekends if that’s your thing,” Tyson said. 

“Do you like hockey?” JT asked.

“I’m Canadian, of course I like hockey,” Tyson said. 

“We should go sometime,” JT said, finding himself sort of asking Tyson out. It wasn’t a date, this wouldn’t be a date. He didn’t even know if Tyson was interested in dating or men or him for that matter, but it never hurt to make friends. 

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Tyson said, clearly surprised at the invitation. JT smiled. 

 

“What the hell?” Alex asked causing JT to startle. His face was flushed and he was out of breath having clearly run from their apartment, “You were supposed to text me.” 

“What? Oh shit,” JT swore remembering the alarm that he’d turned off, “I’m sorry.”

“I thought you were kidnapped,” Alex said and Tyson chuckled before he realized that Alex was actually being serious. 

“It’s actually a really safe area,” Tyson said, “You don’t really have to worry about that around here.”  
“You again?” Alex asked.

“Alex!” JT scolded. “Sorry, Tyson this is my roommate Alex. He’s also in our inequality class. Alex this is Tyson.”

“Hi,” Alex said tersely, still clearly pissed off at JT’s forgetfulness.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Tyson said. 

“Likewise,” Alex said acidicly. 

“I’m sorry,” JT started.

“It’s fine, I should probably start soon,” Tyson said as he left the table, clearly annoyed.

“You didn’t need to be rude to him,” JT said as Alex sat down across from him.

“I don’t like him,” Alex said.

“I fucked up, okay, don’t blame him.”

“This cannot be a thing,” Alex said, “Do you know how much I worried when you didn’t respond?”

“Alex I’m fine.”

“I know, but what if you weren’t, that would have been on me,” Alex said, though JT saw that he was finally starting to calm down, “You can’t afford to be careless.” 

“I know, I’m sorry,” JT glanced over to the counter where Tyson had started working. He looked a little frazzled but okay. JT offered him a small smile when he caught Tyson glance their way, but Tyson just looked away. 

 

The next time JT saw Tyson was at Thursday’s class. Alex sat by his side this time. He’d been more clingy since the cafe incident but JT knew it was just a matter of time before Alex would relax again. The professor had announced they’d have a group project in a couple of weeks to examine institutionalized inequalities and that they should start trying to find a partner. JT immediately thought of asking Tyson.

He waited after class to try and talk to him again and Alex thankfully gave him a breadth of space for some semblance of privacy. “Hey Tyson, wait,” JT said as Tyson looked ready to leave. 

“Hi,” Tyson said. 

“I’m really sorry about the other day,” JT said, “I upset Alex and he took it out on you and that wasn’t fair.”

“It’s fine,” Tyson said, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. 

“So, about that hockey game, I was thinking maybe we could go to the one next Friday?” JT asked.

“I don’t think I can,” Tyson said.

“Are you working? Sorry, I think there’s a couple the week after that…” JT said.

“Look, I’m just going to be busy for the next couple of weeks so I probably can’t make it,” Tyson said. JT could read through the flimsy excuse. Tyson just wasn’t interested.  

“Right, well if things change let me know,” JT said. 

“Sure, thanks,” Tyson said and brushed past JT. The rejection stung and JT just blinked in shock. Tyson had seemed enthusiastic before but now he didn’t seem interested at all.

“Let’s go home,” JT said when he rejoined Alex. There was a clear question on Alex’s face but he didn’t ask and JT was so grateful for that. 


	3. Chapter 3

JT tried to ignore the melancholy that settled in his stomach at Tyson’s rejection. Rejection was almost too much to describe what had happened. Tyson just wasn’t interested which was fair. JT couldn’t expect everyone to like him, even though he knew that most who did like him ended up liking him because of his title and everything that came along with it.

He knew that was also that that was the reason that he’d been invited to a house party by a girl in his history class. He’d insisted Alex come along and a part of him wasn’t particularly interested in going, but he needed to socialize with other classmates. Alex seemed more okay with this. JT was sure he’d run preliminary background checks on the people in his classes; that was the only explanation for Alex’s eased demeanor.

He and Alex showed up about a half hour after the invitation said the party was set to start. People were already there, with drinks in hand listening to the blasting music. “You came!” The girl from JT’s class squealed as she greeted him with a hug. Alex stiffened out of the corner of his eye, but JT gently waved him off. She was harmless, if not slightly drunk. “I’m so glad, pretty much everyone’s coming and we wanted you here.” 

JT could read between the lines,  _ we wanted the prince here _ . Nevertheless, he remembered his manners, “Thanks so much for inviting us.”

“We wanted to do something before the semester really picked up,” the girl, Amy he remembered, explained. “There are some drinks in the kitchen, help yourselves.”

“Thanks,” JT said.

He and Alex headed to the kitchen and grabbed some beers from the cooler. There was something that looked suspiciously like jungle juice in a giant container that reeked of alcohol. “Hi, I think you’re in my inequality class,” a friendly voice from behind them said. JT turned and realized that she wasn’t talking to him but Alex instead. Alex, too, seemed surprised but smiled at her.

“Well,  _ he’s  _ in the class, and I go where he goes,” Alex said, “It’s kind of my job.”

“Is college boring for you, then?” she asked.

JT sensed that they’d be talking for a while and moved to the living room to afford them slightly more privacy. He scanned the room in hopes that Tyson was there. Amy had said that pretty much everyone was coming and he found himself hoping that that included Tyson. 

Despite recognizing several people from his classes, JT hadn’t actually held a conversation with most of them. He was acutely aware of the stares that his classmates shot his way. Guys who were insecure that JT was there and girls who were curious about him. JT could never fully relax in these situations where alcohol was involved. Drinking was legal here, but he was always worried 

“Is Tyson here?” He asked Amy as she walked by.

“Who?”

“Tyson, you know the guy from our class?” 

Amy just squinted, “No, he wouldn’t have come anyways.”

“Why?”

“He doesn’t really hang out with us,” Amy said, “Probably thinks he’s too good for us or something.”

“Oh,” JT said. That didn’t sound like Tyson, but then again, he didn’t really know him. He stuck around for a while longer but nobody really came over to talk to him- at least about anything meaningful and since he found out that Tyson wasn’t coming the appeal of the party had decreased. He hadn’t seen Alex since he’d left the kitchen so he wandered back and still saw Alex deep in conversation with the same girl.

“Hey, I was thinking about heading out,” JT said.

Alex’s face fell.

“You don’t have leave though, I’ll probably just stop by the coffee shop and then go home.”

Alex must have been having fun since he barely protested this time except to make sure that JT was going to text him along the way. So JT quietly left.

 

He was hoping that Tyson was working at the coffee shop when he stopped in. The weather was still nice enough that walk back didn’t bother him. He triple checked the hours of the cafe before entering, making sure he wasn’t going in just as they were closing.

Sure enough, Tyson was there in the nearly empty coffeeshop looking slightly bored as he cleaned behind the counter.

“Hey,” JT said.

“Oh, hi,” Tyson said. “Americano?”

“It’s a little late for that,” JT said, “Plus I’m a little drunk, so I’ll just take a hot chocolate.”

“A little drunk?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah, there was a party,” JT said.

“Amy’s?” Tyson asked.

“Yeah, you didn’t miss out on much,” JT said. 

Tyson shrugged and finished cashing him out, “Sounds like it’d be okay.”

“I think Alex had more fun than I did,” JT said.

“Hm…”

“Is it just you working tonight?” JT asked.

“Yeah,” Tyson said, “As you can tell we’re not exactly swamped.”

“Do you mind if I keep you company then?” JT asked. “You can kick me out anytime you need to.”

“Uh, sure. I just kind of thought you’d like to spend your Friday night doing something else,” Tyson said.

“I’m pretty happy here,” JT said and definitely blamed the alcohol for his brazenness. Tyson looked surprised but carefully regained his composure. 

“I still have to clean and stuff,” Tyson explained.

“That’s fine,” JT said, “Are you always working here?” 

“Pretty much,” Tyson laughed, “I go from class to here and then home. I don’t mind, though, it’s a pretty good gig.”

“That must be exhausting,” JT said.

“Yeah, but it’s either this or drown in a ton of debt. I had to take out loans as is to pay for the rent, but this helps.”

Tyson’s life was beginning to become clearer to JT. “Do you want to grab breakfast then, or something?” JT asked.

“What?” Tyson asked.

“Sorry, I just thought that it might be hard to hang out and stuff with your work schedule, so like, maybe another time might be better,” JT said. 

“Uh, I guess,” Tyson said. 

“Cool,” JT said, smiling, maybe the hockey thing truly had just been a work conflict. “Does tomorrow or Sunday work for you?”

“I can do Sunday,” Tyson said, “I have to work later in the afternoon, but I can meet up in the morning.”

“Okay, do you have a favorite place?” JT asked. “Or I can cook?” 

“Let’s do your place, then,” Tyson said.

“It’s a date, well, not a date, but-”

“Text me your address,” Tyson mercifully cut him off as he reached out for JT’s phone and put in his number.

“Okay,” JT said as he headed for the door. “See you then.”


End file.
